Why don't fat men join slimming clubs?
Everyone is getting fatter, especially men, so why aren't they
doing something about it? Because dieting is seen as a
female thing, says Chris Moss
The facts are as obvious as a two-metre-circumference beer gut framed by a short T-shirt and sagging jeans. In a 2012 survey, 67 per cent of all British men were classified as overweight (24 per cent of whom were obese) compared to 57 per cent of women (25 per cent of whom were obese).
Only 32 per cent of men have a BMI within the healthy range – that is, below 25 (check yours here). The highest rates of male obesity are in the 45-74 age group, where one-third of men are obese.
Think about that: a third of all midlife men are huge. And those figures were from two years ago, when we were all thinner.
Men are also more likely than women to carry excess weight around the middle of their bodies. These abdominal fat cells increase levels of dangerous hormones in the body that can cause disease. Dieticians say a good way to measure this is by waist circumference. For men a waist circumference over 94 cm is considered high risk and over 102 cm very high risk. Remember too to measure the widest part – not just where you fasten your trousers. In one survey, men underestimated their waist circumference by at least two inches; there’s nothing like a high waistband for justifying that extra éclair.
In practice all this means not only impaired mobility and discomfort, but increases in blood pressure and joint pain. Should you, despite these obstacles, wish to indulge in a little physical fun of the non-gym variety, you also have to deal with low testosterone levels, erectile dysfunction and possible infertility. That being grossly overweight also induces depression is grossly unsurprising.
Despite this, we are not keen on joining our sisters, wives and girlfriends down at the slimming club.
“Dieting is seen as a feminine activity, particularly strict diets which men feel may cause them to lose too much weight, look too thin and therefore look less masculine,” says Professor Alison Avenell of Aberdeen University, co-author of the ROMEO report into “the management of obesity in men”, published by the National Institute for Health Research in May 2014.
“Many commercial weight-loss programmes focus on diet, have up to 90 per cent women attending and don’t provide access to physical activity programmes. So these aren’t likely to appeal to men.
“Although the NHS is buying some services from these organisations, men are still much less likely to go to them. Men prefer programmes delivered by the NHS and other providers, but preferably not placed in health service settings.”
What is it that keeps us away from dieting and diet groups? Part of the reason is a pressure not to appear vain.
“Men are less likely than women to admit to being concerned with appearance,” says Michaela James, a dietician at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool. “Their reasons for wanting to lose weight tend to relate to their health and loss of ability to perform normal daily activities such as tying shoelaces, playing with their kids or grandkids or not being able to fit in aeroplane seats.“
Other reasons are cultural. Males associate their sexuality, identity and happiness with certain foods and drinks that tend to be of the “comfort” variety: beer, curry, big breakfasts, pies, roasts. Food marketers exploit these habits and urges.
As a consequence men have less healthy diets than women, surveys showing that they are less likely than women to eat five fruit and veg per day, tend to eat more salt (an average of 9.1g/day compared with 6.8g/day in women) and eat more processed meat (50g per day on average to 24g per day for women).
But the key problem is that dieting is still perceived as a largely female affair. Healthy food producers and diet clubs generally target women, as part of the age-old stereotyping that pretends females care more about their appearance, body image and health while men are more cerebral and/or spiritual and self-assured, as well as laid-back.
Brendan O’Donnell, 31, who was crowned as Slimming World’s man of the year just last week, is living proof that this is nonsense. Exactly six feet tall, his weight in early summer 2013 was a worrisome 25st 9lbs. However, as he’d had no health problems and had always been chubby since childhood, he had got used to living with a heavy body.
A summer holiday with his wife and relatives last year changed his mind.
“The trip to Spain and was uncomfortable for me. I got heat rash and couldn’t sleep at night, and I ended up sitting on the balcony until the early hours of the morning, When I got back I made a decision.”
In August 2013, he joined the local Slimming World club in Driffield in the East Riding, His wife, Sarah went along too but he still had to face a gender imbalance
“There was only one other man and between 20 and 30 women at any one time. Joining a slimming club is just a female thing, that’s the way it is.
“But I wanted to get in there before my weight became a problem for me. That helped me overcome the feelings of nervousness or embarrassment. The women in the group were friendly and supportive – there was no sense of being judged by the group.”
Brendan lost more than 11 stone and now weighs a very normal 14st 6lbs and his clothes have dropped from a size 6XL and a 48” waist to wearing M or L shirts and tops and trousers with a 34” waist.
The new trim-looking Brendan still goes to the club – free to those who have hit their target weight – and helps mentors those who are just starting out. He says he also occasionally enjoys high-calorie food and drink.
“I’ve not really had to make any wholesale lifestyle changes. If I’ve wanted a curry or a drink with the boys, I’ve done it. The main changes are less reliance on ready meals – and cookery has been a revelation.”
Having “never been into exercise” Brendan now runs up to 10km and is considering testing himself in a half-marathon. The diet, he says, has changed his life and he encourages other men to follow suit.
“If there wasn’t a stigma attached to it, men would give it a go. Dieting shouldn’t be a female stronghold.”
Brendan’s success is actually not atypical. “Once they get started, men seem to have better success at dieting than women,” says Michaela James. “They like being told straight what the problem is and then they tend to be competitive.”
So, what can be done? Men have to first admit they are overweight and then tap their natural interests and instincts. James recommends “trying to lose weight with mates or for sponsorship as an incentive, and using phone apps such as myfitnesspal and My Meal Mate to geek-ify the process.
“But don’t forget that dietary change has the biggest effect of all – healthier eating and reducing portion sizes are more likely to appeal to men than joining clubs.”
The alternative to admitting a weight problem is very grim indeed. Earlier this month the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence reported that more than 800,000 additional people could be considered for gastric bands or other surgery to restrict their eating. This was particularly directed at reducing the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, which affects more men than women. But again, even the surgery won’t necessarily help men, as less than a third of those referred to loss weight management clinics are men – and males over 50 are nearly twice as likely as women to have undiagnosed diabetes.
It’s time the government helped out, too. While health experts agree that individuals need to take control, men have been ignored by the food and diet industries and by the NHS for too long.
“Men have tended to think that it is only their responsibility to deal with their weight,” says Professor Avenell. “The message in our report is that services, policy makers, and people influencing the wider environment need to make things easier for men to lose weight.”
